BACKGROUND
It all started with …Stitch?
When Lilo & Stitch was released in 2002, many people fell in love with that little blue alien, who is both cute and fluffy. Stitch was so popular he got himself a whole fictional backstory of his time as an “extra” in Disney Animation before getting his “big break”; his own attractions; and a whole range of merchandise items, as well as multiple meet-and-greet locations and spots in parades and shows at the Disney theme parks.
Lilo & Stitch was released between two major flops for Disney Animation: Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and Treasure Planet (2002). During this time, Disney Animation was struggling against strong competition and a lack of direction. So, it was a huge surprise to everyone that the low-budget, left-alone, little-anticipated movie of Lilo & Stitch did so well. It managed to succeed critically, and commercially, and is still fondly remembered, having triumphed over the other animated features that came out in the 2000s.
I didn’t used to like Lilo & Stitch at all. I didn’t like Stitch much. I thought he was disgusting and gross – his chilli dog burp in Stitch’s Great Escape still haunts me – and I thought Lilo was quite bratty. It wasn’t until I was much older that I fully understood the main family plotline, of Lilo being brought up by her sister, Nani, and the risk of her being taken away by Social Services. Once I understood that, I found I liked the film a whole lot more, and could connect with the characters by understanding their troubles.
PLOT
The movie starts off at a criminal trial in space. Dr. Jumba Jookiba is accused of illegal genetic experimentation, actually creating something – the evil, naughty, disgusting Experiment 626. Jumba is sentenced to prison, and Experiment 626 is to be exiled to an isolated asteroid, but before he can be transported there, he escapes, taking a red police cruiser, which eventually crash lands on Earth. The United Galactic Federation had hoped he’d land in the ocean as the creature cannot survive in water, but manages to land on one of the Hawaiian Islands, Kauai. Jumba is released from prison and sent to Earth to recapture Stitch, along with Agent Pleakley.
In Hawaii, we meet a little girl called Lilo, who struggles to fit in with her classmates, and generally misbehaves often. Lilo is cared for by her older sister, Nani, as both their parents have recently died, however, Nani struggles to juggle work, home, and care responsibilities, meaning that the two are on the radar of Social Services. Social Worker Mr. Bubbles has been assigned to them. Their first meeting does not go well, as Lilo has gone home alone and locked all the doors, so Nani has to climb in through a back window to open the door to Mr. Bubbles. He is not impressed and Nani is given three days to turn things around. Lilo and Nani fight, but make up later, where Nani secretly hears Lilo wishing for a friend. Nani decides to take Lilo to the local dog shelter the next morning. Meanwhile, Stitch has crash-landed on this strange island, and is run over by multiple trucks. The drivers take him to the local dog shelter for medical attention.
Lilo and Nani arrive at the shelter, where Lilo is told to pick out a dog. She stumbles across Stitch, a strange-looking blue “dog”, and instantly feels a connection to him. The shelter owner and Nani want her to choose a different one, as this one not only looks weird, but acts strangely. Lilo refuses to choose anyone else, and officially now owns the creature, which she names Stitch. Soon, Lilo realises that Stitch is very bad and destructive. Stitch doesn’t want to be a pet, but has to use Lilo and Nani as protection against Jumba and Pleakley who are watching, waiting to capture him. Stitch ends up attacking Pleakley and Jumba whilst at a luau dinner show with Lilo, waiting for Nani to finish her shift as a waitress. Nani is promptly fired for the incident and now must rush to get a new job on Bubbles’ orders, with Lilo being told to make Stitch into a “model citizen”. He is destructive and continues to break things in the house, but feels some sort of affiliation with the story of “The Ugly Duckling”, who feels lost and like he doesn’t belong – as Stitch does.
The next day, Lilo tries to teach Stitch to be like her idol, Elvis Presley, while Nani desperately searches for a job. Just when things are looking up at the beach, with Nani close to getting a lifeguard position, and Lilo organising a show for Stitch to play some Elvis music, the attention he receives causes Stitch to go crazy, and he attacks people, and destroys more public property. To cheer them up, Nani’s friend, David, arrives and takes them surfing. The good vibes are promptly spoiled by Jumba and Pleakley grabbing Stitch underwater, who drags Lilo down accidentally. Nani swims down to rescue her, with David having to go back in to save Stitch. Everyone is ok; however, Mr. Bubbles has witnessed the whole day’s events, and tells Nani he will be taking Lilo into care tomorrow morning. Nani and Lilo have a heartfelt discussion that evening, with Lilo admitting that she’d hoped Stitch would become a part of their family. Stitch leaves, wanting to cause no more damage, settling in the woods.
The following morning, Stitch is found by Jumba, and runs to Lilo for help, where she is alone at the house, with Nani going with David to try to secure a job in town. Jumba and Pleakley enter the house and Jumba and Stitch fight, destroying everything, with an exploding plasma gun leaving the whole house obliterated. Lilo is put into Bubbles’ car on his arrival at the house, with Nani pleading with him not to take her away. Lilo, upset, runs out of the car into the woods. Stitch follows her, to return one of the few unharmed items from the house – the last photo she has of her parents. Suddenly, Gantu, part of the Galactic Federation who has been sent here to finish the job that Jumba and Pleakley are clearly not capable of, captures both Lilo and Stitch, putting them into a container at the back of his ship. As the ship is about to depart, Stitch manages to crawl out of the container, leaving Lilo behind. Nani shouts for the ship to stop, but it departs, leaving Nani to ask Stitch for information on where Lilo has gone. Jumba finally captures Stitch before he can tell Nani anything. She pleads with all three of them to help her. They won’t do it. Stitch then says the word “’ohana” to Nani, who is perplexed that he understands the meaning of ’ohana and family, but it shows that he will find Lilo. Stitch easily convinces Jumba to help.
They fly off in Jumba’s red spaceship, including Nani, who is incredibly confused by this whole situation, and catch up to Gantu, who now realises Stitch has escaped. A chase ensues, through mountains and valleys, until Stitch can jump on to Gantu’s ship. He is pushed off, back to the mainland, where he commandeers a gas truck, driving it into one of the nearby volcanoes to set off an explosion to blast him back up into the air. Stitch crashes through Gantu’s windscreen, and throws him out, though he is caught by Jumba’s ship. Stitch breaks the container, releasing Lilo. Gantu’s ship explodes, and Stitch and Lilo land onto Jumba’s ship, with it landing safely in the ocean, and David giving them a ride to shore on his surfboard! Stitch is arrested by the Grand Councilwoman of the Galactic Federation. Mr. Bubbles, who is actually a former CIA agent and has met the Grand Councilwoman before (Roswell, 1973), has come to witness this, and prompts Lilo to tell the Grand Councilwoman that she paid for Stitch. Lilo shows the paperwork and says she cannot take Stitch away, otherwise it’s stealing. The Grand Councilwoman is pleased by this turn of events, and sentences Stitch to “exile” on this planet, with Lilo and Nani; the family is now under the protection of the Galactic Federation and Bubbles. The movie ends happily with them rebuilding Lilo and Nani’s house, and shows how the family has adjusted to daily life.
CHARACTERS & CAST
Stitch is one half of the titular characters, obviously. He’s gross, disgusting, poorly behaved, with bad manners, and a sole purpose to be destructive and “evil”. He was made to destroy cities, and cause general chaos. Something he doesn’t manage to achieve much of in Hawaii. He is a strange-looking, weird, blue alien-type thing, with antennae, back spines, and six limbs. When Lilo is looking for dogs at the pet shelter, Stitch manages to retract his antennae, spines and two limbs to look more like a dog – using inspiration from a poster on the wall of a dog hugging a little girl. Originally, Stitch was going to be a green alien, but the team at Disney decided that was too “out there”, so they started to make Stitch grey, to make him seem a bit like a cross between a koala and a dog, before making him bluer, partly because some of the dogs in Lady and the Tramp (1955) were a kind of slate blue, so it wouldn’t be such a stretch for a dog to be that colour. Supervising Animator Alex Kupershmidt added in different movements for the character of Stitch, so he could be creepy, with insect-like movements, or cute, with pet-like ones[1].
Stitch doesn’t talk at the start of the movie, and the plan was for him not to talk at all, however, the team decided that by letting him speak some English, small phrases or words here or there, it would show him integrating with humans and becoming comfortable with his new family. His monologue at the end about ‘ohana is one of the main reasons that he is released as it shows that he has learnt how to adapt to a family, and has begun to mend his “evil ways”. Stitch feels like he belongs now, and by saving Lilo from Gantu, putting himself at risk, he learnt the true meaning of ‘ohana[2]. Stitch’s voice artist is in fact the director, Chris Sanders. He was inspired by the silly high-pitched voice he’d use to annoy work colleagues, and added in strange animal noises and sounds for Stitch’s “temp track”. When Stitch was given some dialogue, Sanders continued to provide that too, as everyone had gotten used to the voice. Plus, they felt it would be awkward for an actual actor to sound like Stitch![3]
For the character of Lilo, the team knew they needed someone who could sound sweet, but also be able to tap into the darker emotions that Lilo has. Lilo is a complicated character. She is struggling with the death of her parents, and the upheaval that has come with it; she doesn’t know whether to see her sister as just her sister or as her guardian now; she doesn’t get on with her classmates, and lashes out with frustration at not belonging, leading to her attacking and biting one of the girls, Mertle, which further outcasts her from the group; and she is just generally feeling confused and lonely. It’s a lot of emotions for one little girl to have! After many casting calls, Daveigh Chase was chosen to voice Lilo as she was able to give a haunting quality to the character, along with a really dry demeanour. She gave such a strong performance, whether that was being over-excited about things, or having to be really down and depressed. I particularly like Lilo’s line where she is putting spoons into pickle juice for some sort of voodoo ritual and just says matter-of-factly but in a creepy sort of way: “My friends need to be punished”. Daveigh Chase, in the same year as Lilo & Stitch, would star in the supernatural horror movie The Ring (2002).
Nani is Lilo’s older sister, and now guardian. She has to juggle so many things at once, with keeping Social Services at bay being the main priority in her mind, because, as much as her and Lilo fight and argue, they are the only family each of them has, and there’s no way they could be separated. It’s difficult to remember at times that Nani is only nineteen years old because she has so much responsibility that she has to deal with. Actress and singer Tia Carrere was chosen to voice Nani, and, as she grew up in Hawaii, she was asked to look over her lines and add in any colloquialisms that she felt would enhance the authenticity of her character, as well as being asked for specific examples of what she or Nani might say. For example, Carrere was asked what would she say if somebody hit her with a car, and she said “stupid head”, which was included in the movie, as well as the phrase “lolo”. Carrere has had roles in movies such as True Lies (1995), and was also a participant in the second series of Dancing with the Stars. Carrere returned to voice Nani in subsequent movies and spin-offs. I love Nani; she’s hilarious and probably my favourite character, along with her friend and potential love interest, David. They’re great together.
David loves to surf and is a fire dancer at the luau dinner show where Nani used to work. He cares a lot about Nani: he tells Nani about a job towards the end of the movie, treats Lilo like his own little sister, and tries to help the two of them stay together as much as he can. Lilo tells David at one point that, from reading Nani’s diary, she learnt that Nani thinks he has “a nice butt and fancy hair”, to which David is clearly pleased! He’s a bit goofy at times, but he’s a perfect fit for Nani, and Lilo. Tia Carrere actually suggested Jason Scott Lee for the role of David, as he was also raised in Hawaii, so he would comment on the script as well, adding to it, to make it sound more local and real. Jason Scott Lee played the role of Mowgli in the 1994 live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book, and the part of Böri Khan in Disney’s 2020 remake of Mulan. Currently, Jason Scott Lee plays the role of Benny, Doogie/Lahela’s father, in the Disney TV series Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. (2021-present).
To round out the main human characters, we have Mr. Cobra Bubbles, a tough-looking Social Worker, who catches everyone off guard. He’s very intimidating and doesn’t give anybody an inch. At first, he was going to be a skinny, nerdy-looking, nervous guy from the mainland; a typical civil servant type, with Jeff Goldblum being approached for the role. However, it was decided that actually, in order to keep Lilo from walking all over this person, they had to go in the opposite direction. That’s when they decided that Ving Rhames, with inspiration from his role in Pulp Fiction (1994), would be the best fit. He was intimidating, even to the directors, and no-nonsense, but he worked well and did a great job with the character[4]. For me, I didn’t think he was just one sided. Sure, he was kind of menacing, but actually, towards the end, you do get the sense that he has emotions and doesn’t want to split up this family. Rhames would also continue to voice the character of Cobra Bubbles.
The aliens of Pleakley and Jumba in Lilo & Stitch are, quite clearly, the comedic relief. Pleakley is an agent of the Galactic Federation, and Jumba is the convicted mad scientist. Pleakley is very “by the book” and Jumba is crazy and impulsive, wanting to do things his way. If it weren’t for Pleakley and his belief that humans are a necessary part of the plan to revitalise the mosquito population on Earth (something Bubbles convinced him of years before, we learn), Jumba would’ve obliterated everything and anyone who got in his way of capturing Stitch. They have some great scenes together. I particularly like the luau scene, all of it really, including Stitch eating the cake and then spitting it back out again, but particularly when Nani is concerned that Pleakley, dressed as a female guest, looks really swollen after Stitch tried to bite his head off, and Jumba replies: “Actually, she’s just ugly”. They are a great comedic duo together, and the movie wouldn’t be the same without them. Jumba is voiced by David Ogden Stiers, of M*A*S*H (1977-1983) fame, playing Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, as well as of Disney fame, voicing characters such as Cogsworth (Beauty and the Beast (1991)), and Governor Ratcliffe (Pocahontas (1995)). Kevin McDonald voices Agent Pleakley. He is known for being a part of Canadian comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall. Both actors would reprise their roles for the spin-offs.
Finally, we have the evil Captain Gantu, who will stop at nothing to destroy Stitch, though he fails and ends up looking incompetent yet again, as he also allowed Stitch to escape on route to his banishment asteroid. The Grand Councilwoman is very proper and matter-of-fact, however, when she releases Stitch to Lilo at the end of the movie, we see that she does have a heart and doesn’t want to separate this family either. Gantu is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, who reprised his role as well. He is best known for his voice work and distinctly deep voice. Zoe Caldwell was a four-time Tony Award winner for her theatre work, and also reprised her role for the subsequent Lilo & Stitch spin-offs.
PRODUCTION
Lilo & Stitch turned out to be a much deeper movie than what audiences had been used to from Disney. Lilo & Stitch represents a problem in society, of the constant scrutiny from Social Services despite trying to do your best by your family, as well as pushing forward the idea of non-conventional families being just as important and just as solid as nuclear ones. It also shows a real sisterhood between Lilo and Nani, with all the love and messy moments that come with it. It’s important to remember that these two existed a decade before Anna and Elsa, so Disney did make strong, real female characters before 2013!
Lilo & Stitch was based on a children’s book written by Chris Sanders, the movie’s director, in the 1980s. It was an original idea that was meant to be set in the forests, with a strange alien-being interacting with these woodland creatures that wouldn’t want anything to do with him. The book was never published, but Sanders kept the idea in mind for the future. When President of Walt Disney Feature Animation Thomas Schumacher asked for new ideas for movies after Mulan (1998) had wrapped, Sanders decided to pitch his idea. Schumacher liked the idea but felt that it would be better if the alien interacted with the human world instead of with animals, yet still somewhere remote. They thought about Kansas, but Sanders then thought to base the movie in Hawaii instead, especially as it was remote and rural enough a setting for the alien to avoid detection. Sanders brought in Dean DeBlois who had worked with him on Mulan to co-direct. They were mostly left alone to figure out the movie, but were told that they would have to work at the Florida Studio where Mulan had been animated. DeBlois was reluctant as he’d had a miserable time there with the packed schedule, so wanted Sanders to agree that they would only work during the weekdays, and not at the weekends. This was agreed and led to a much more creative and energetic team working on the movie[5].
Disney Feature Animation Florida was an annex of the official Disney Burbank Studio, operational from 1989 to January 2004. It was originally housed in trailers near where Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster currently stands, with only around forty artists. In 1998, they were moved to their own $70 million building which stood behind the, now-defunct, Magic of Animation pavilion, with the number of artists increasing to around 400. The animators in Florida had developed sequences and supervised animation on some characters for many of the “Renaissance” films. Mulan (1998) was the first animated feature to be produced primarily by this Florida studio. Lilo & Stitch would be the second one to be almost entirely made in Florida, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The last film to be produced by the Florida division was Brother Bear (2003)[6].
During production, some changes had to be made to the movie quite late in the production journey, based off test screenings. Test audiences found that the original scene of Jumba attacking Lilo and Nani’s house was too violent, as Stitch cuts a gas line and Jumba ignites it to blow up the house. This was amended to be the blocked-up plasma gun going off instead, with Stitch and Jumba passing it back and forth to the children’s rhyme “hot potato”. Stitch was meant to part of a villainous gang with Jumba, however, this didn’t allow for Stitch to redeem himself at the end of the movie, as he would’ve been inherently evil having started off down a villainous path. They made Stitch a genetic mutation instead, knowing that he would then be able to go on a journey to overcome evil. The test screenings also showed that viewers thought Lilo and Nani were mother and daughter, so the scene in Lilo’s bedroom was altered to make this clear, by mentioning the fact they are sisters three times!
The biggest change, though, came from the tragic events of 9/11. The original end scene of the group saving Lilo was meant to involve Stitch hijacking an aeroplane, with Jumba flying it through a city. Although this tragedy only happened around nine months before the release date of the movie, and the sequence had already been completed, the production team set about making changes early on, even before Disney executives told them they had to. The 747 was changed to be Jumba’s huge red spaceship, which him and Pleakley drove to get to Earth – it still has the generic shape of a 747 plane, but it did work well. The setting was changed from a city to a mountain valley. The original scene has been released as a deleted scene on multiple DVD releases[7]. Although this change was disappointing for the team, even though they it had to be so, it did allow for them to have a couple of extra minutes of budget to play with. They created a postscript for the film with this budget, showing a montage of scenes of how the family’s life was now, including birthdays, vacations, Halloween and Christmas. They were very pleased with this ending, and felt it really made the film. I personally love this ending; the film wouldn’t be the same without it.
Luckily, because Schumacher wanted the movie to be worked through without notes from the “higher-ups”, and as it was only running on a small budget, the Disney executives, including Michael Eisner, were given generic updates on the movie. It wasn’t until the movie was completely finished, with colour, music, effects, etc., that Eisner saw any of it. Thankfully, he liked it, even though he found it strange and odd[8].
For the animation style, it was decided that watercolours would be used for the backgrounds, something that hadn’t been done by Disney for decades. It was considered dated by some animators, and had been abandoned for its slow, awkward process. Sanders was insistent on using watercolours for the backgrounds to give the movie a “storybook” feel. Ric Sluiter, Art Director on this movie, was not a fan, and wanted to do a standard wash instead. He tried both a wash and a full watercolour, and they came out completely differently, with the watercolour winning out. They had to be trained to in this medium again[9]. I believe it made such a difference to the movie, as the backgrounds feel real yet magical. The character designs had mostly come from the original picture book that Chris Sanders had created, with the idea for voices also already being more or less decided.
To capture the beauty and reality of Hawaii, the team went on a research trip and were surprised by the purity and clarity of colours on the island, seeing as there is little to no pollution disrupting the view. Instead of just taking photographs, the artists were observing and painting sites and structures in person as they saw it in real-life. Even specific details like the colour of the sea form being pink, not white or grey, were included in the movie. Andreas Deja, Supervising Animator for Lilo, was told to go to the local school and see how the children behaved and looked. After some discussion, Deja was allowed in and sketched some of the children, seeing how fidgety children of Lilo’s age could be. The team wanted to carefully observe everything and get even the smallest details to feel accurate and authentic. They got the approval of Tia Carrere, who felt not only was the art style beautiful but that the houses looked just like the houses she’d grown up around, and that her character, Nani, looked like a local girl. It was also on this research trip that they were introduced to the term ‘ohana and how it refers to both close and extended families. It’s about people coming together and sharing a bond, no matter whether they are “blood relations” or not.
Hula and music are a huge part of Lilo & Stitch, with Chris Sanders saying that hula and Hawaii had been treated badly in Hollywood, by not replicating anything truthfully. The team made sure to consult the correct people, to truly replicate these art forms[10]. The animation of hula was of particular importance to the production team of Lilo & Stitch as they were only too aware of the spiritual and cultural important of the dance for the Hawaiian community. They consulted with “hula masters”, and filmed hula dancers for a whole day, performing a dance based off the opening song “He Mele No Lilo”, and animated the sequence movement-for-movement, so every gesture was accurate and authentic[11].
MUSIC
With the help of Mark Keali’l Ho’omalu coming onto the team as both a consultant and to write the two main songs of the movie: “He Mele No Lilo” and “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride”, they successfully recreated authentic music, even incorporating historic native Hawaiian language into the songs, giving a mixture of both English and Hawaiian. These songs were performed by Ho’omalu and the Kamehameha Schools Children Chorus. The Disney team booked out a movie theatre to show the movie to all of them in Honolulu before Lilo & Stitch was released. Ho’omalu collaborated well with Alan Silvestri, who was brought in to compose the score. He had been in mind from the start of production. Silvestri is known for composing for many Robert Zemeckis movies, like The Polar Express (2004) and Forrest Gump (1994), as well as one of my favourite movies, Father of the Bride (1991).
The rest of the soundtrack comes from either Elvis originals or covers of his songs. The final song “Burning Love”, which plays over the ending montage, was a cover recorded by singer Wynonna Judd in Nashville. The team had always planned for Lilo to like Elvis and knew they’d have to ask permission to use: Elvis’ picture, to reference him, to mimic him, and to change his lyrics. Luckily, the representatives from Elvis’ estate loved the screening of the movie and gave them permission for all these points!
RECEPTION
Before the movie was released, Disney set up a clever marketing campaign to entice audiences to see the movie. They came up with four teaser trailers, where iconic moments from four of Disney’s “Renaissance” movies would be ruined by Stitch, with some of the voice actors from the original movies even coming in to record lines! The trailers were incredibly popular and can still be found on YouTube. They did the job of getting everyone interested in Stitch himself. These trailers involved Stitch crashing the chandelier onto Belle and Beast; Stitch arriving on a space ship in the middle of Aladdin’s “A Whole New World”; Stitch being raised by Rafiki on Pride Rock instead of baby Simba; and Stitch crashing a wave onto Ariel while she’s singing. I remember seeing these trailers. I’m not sure what I thought of them back then, but I like them now! The production team also went to Cannes Film Festival in 2002 to do screenings for the international press[12].
Lilo & Stitch was released in June 2002, with a premiere at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, and a premiere in Honolulu. Lilo & Stitch made around $270 million at the box-office against a small budget of $80 million, making it the second-highest-grossing animated film of 2002 behind Ice Age (2002). The movie was praised for its fun and charming story; its approach towards families and their problems; and for its artistic style. Lilo & Stitch unfortunately lost out to Spirited Away (2001) for Best Animated Feature, though Daveigh Chase and David Ogden Stiers had voice roles in both movies.
LEGACY
However, the movie was still incredibly popular, so much so that it spawned a TV series, Lilo & Stitch: The Series (2003-2006), and three direct-to-video sequels: Stitch! The Movie (2003), which sets up the plot of the TV series; Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (2005); and Leroy & Stitch (2006). There are plans for a live-action adaptation, with a director and screenwriter now attached to the project. Stitch was so popular in Japan that he also got his own anime-style TV series called Stitch! which aired from 2008 to 2012.
Stitch has been a crowd-pleasing character for both Disney merchandising and within the Disney theme parks. He received his own attraction called Stitch’s Great Escape, taking over the location of ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter at Tomorrowland in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. It opened on 16th November 2004. The attraction was popular to begin with, but was soon rarely at capacity, and closed in January 2018; signage was removed in 2020. However, he does still remain as a meet-and-greet character, and you can meet him as well as Lilo at ‘Ohana at Walt Disney World’s Polynesian Resort. It serves a family-style character buffet breakfast and dinner each day.
Outside of the US, you can find Stitch at the interactive Stitch Encounter shows at Disneyland Paris (known as Stitch Live! from 2008), Tokyo Disneyland (from 2015), and Shanghai Disneyland (from 2016). It was present at Hong Kong Disneyland from 2006 to 2016. Similar to Turtle Talk with Crush at Epcot, Stitch Encounter allows children to interact with a Stitch via a big theatre screen. At Tokyo Disneyland, The Enchanted Tiki Room: Stitch Presents Aloha e Komo Mai! opened in July 2008, featuring songs from the movie. As you can see Stitch has been a beloved Disney character for many years, with fans of all ages.
And don’t forget “626 Day”, a whole day dedicated to Stitch, a.k.a. Experiment 626, on the date 6/26, so 26th June, which doesn’t work for any country that puts the day before the month in their dates, but it’s still clever! The Disney Parks celebrate this day with specialty treats and merchandise.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Lilo & Stitch has continued to be popular and relevant for its strong sense of family, as well as for its lovable characters, beautiful artistry, and catchy, well-known music. It’s a movie that is mentioned and referenced often, and I do like it, much more than I did when I was younger. It was one of those Disney movies that didn’t have many expectations attached to it, so it was much more likely to exceed them. The budget was small, it wasn’t overlooked by Disney executives much, and it kept things simple. This was the perfect approach to the movie, and from researching, I can tell how much passion and enthusiasm went into the project – it shows.
Mostly importantly, it lets everyone know that families can come in all shapes and sizes and be messy; there is no correct version of “family”. I will always have the most memorable quote from the movie in my head forever, as I’m sure many people will, that important phrase: “’Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind – or forgotten”.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Spence D., ‘A Look Inside the Creation of Lilo and Stitch’, IGN (online), 17th June 2012.
[2] Credit: Douglas Laman, ‘The Untold Truth Of Lilo & Stitch’, Looper (online), 8th June 2022.
[3] Credit: Disney, The Story Room: The Making of ‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2005).
[4] Credit: Bilge Ebiri, ‘An Oral History of Lilo & Stitch: The beloved Disney movie made in a “secret hangar” that almost brought hand-drawn animation back.’, Vulture (online), 19th October 2022.
[5] Credit: Disney, The Story Room: The Making of ‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2005).
[6] Credit: Dave Shute, ‘A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: When Disney’s Hollywood Studios was a Studio’, YourFirstVisit.net, date unknown.
[7] Credit: Disney, The Story Room: The Making of ‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2005).
[8] Credit: Bilge Ebiri, ‘An Oral History of Lilo & Stitch: The beloved Disney movie made in a “secret hangar” that almost brought hand-drawn animation back.’, Vulture (online), 19th October 2022.
[9] Credit: Disney, The Story Room: The Making of ‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2005).
[10] Credit: Bilge Ebiri, ‘An Oral History of Lilo & Stitch: The beloved Disney movie made in a “secret hangar” that almost brought hand-drawn animation back.’, Vulture (online), 19th October 2022.
[11] Credit: Disney, “Animating the Hula”, from Lilo & Stitch (2002) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).
[12] Credit: Disney, The Story Room: The Making of ‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2005).
The Disney Purist 